LAHORE - Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mian Shehbaz Sharif demanded at least 10 percent increase in salaries of government employees and said that government’s decision not to raise salaries of lower scale employees was totally unacceptable. President of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shehbaz Sharif, in his response to budget presented by the government, said that PML-N, during its tenure raised salaries of the government employees and provided them housing allowance and other benefits. He further said that inflation crossed all limits and health expenditure also had increased and by not increasing salaries of government employees in these circumstances the government was unjust.

Shehbaz Sharif further said that there are no programs in budget to create jobs and reduce poverty in the country. Budget does not include any program that provides relief to farmers despite that fact that agricultural sector is suffering a decline of 2.9 percent, he added.